Thesis Title: Budget Reforms and Financial Performance of County Government of Bungoma, Kenya

Student’s Name: Musungu Joseph Wasula -MBA/009/19

Supervisors Names:

1.Dr Teclwa Kirwa

2. Dr Fred Atandi

Abstract:

Budget reforms happen when adjustments are done on how the government collects, allocates and spends money as per overall budget in public sector for improvement of financial performance. The study examined the effect of budget reforms on financial performance of County Government of Bungoma. Specific objectives of the study were to determine the effect of Program based budgeting on financial performance by County Government of Bungoma, The evaluation of the influence of Medium Term Expenditure framework on financial performance by County Government of Bungoma. The third objective was to determine the effect of budgeting automation on financial performance of County Government of Bungoma. The final objective was to evaluate the moderating effect of County regulations on the relationship budget reforms and financial performance of County Government of Bungoma. The study used a target population of 202 workers and sample size of 134 respondents who were middle and top managers of County Government of Bungoma in the field of finance. It employed a descriptive survey research and correlation research designs. The study based on Equitable Resource Allocation Model and Budget theories. Questionnaires were used to collect data from respondents and data analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Simple linear regression model was applied to measure the effect on relationship between budget reforms and financial performance of County Government of Bungoma. The study used SPSS process version 3.5 to analysis data.  From the analysis, the County Government of Bungoma adhered to Budget reforms, which had statistical significant influence on financial performance. The program based budgeting; Budgeting Automation and Medium Term expenditure framework had positive impact on financial performance of the County Government of Bungoma. The results showed that most of respondents strongly agreed that the implementation of the reforms were over 75% however, the County Government of Bungoma was performing averagely with low revenue and expenditure outturn with high rate of pending bills. Thus, the budget reforms may not be the main factor that influence financial performance of County Government of Bungoma. There are other influencers of financial performance of County Government of Bungoma.